International Solidarity Movement

Susiya, Masafer Yatta
  

In 1986, Israeli Occupation Forces expropriated the land of the Palestinian village of Susiya and expelled the Palestinian residents under the pretext of archaeological remnants of a synagogue, and handed it over to the residents of the illegal Zionist settlement established 3 years previously (the settlement is named “Susya”). 

In the remaining lands of Susiya that Palestinians are allowed on, and still have papers for, occupation forces have destroyed cisterns, caves and housing structures and denied building permits despite Israeli colonial courts’ recognition of the lands as Palestinian. As with 60% of the West Bank that is designated as “Area C” — i.e. under Israeli control — building permits are under the authority of the Israeli Civil Administration. While settlements expand and are constructed at an exponential rate, almost all building requests for Palestinians are denied. 

Since 2010, multiple petitions have been submitted to Israel’s Supreme Court on behalf of the village residents regarding restricted access to their lands, violence against them, lack of law enforcement against violent settlers, and settler invasions into their lands – resulting in the Israeli army’s Central Command issuing a closed military zone order that forbids settlers from entering agricultural areas between Susya village and the settlement. This order has been renewed annually. 

Since the escalation of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, Palestinian residents have been almost entirely denied access to their agricultural lands, including just a few meters from their houses and even in areas designated as closed military zones for settlers. Consequently, villagers have lost two olive harvest seasons and two plowing seasons, resulting in severe loss of crops and livelihood. Instead of grazing their livestock on natural pastures, they have had to feed them with fodder, incurring substantial financial burdens.

Initially characterized by sporadic incidents of harassment, and isolated attacks on agricultural lands at the start of the genocide, these incidents have intensified into daily occurrences involving pogrom-like violence: organized and concerted attacks by settler militias. These have escalated even further since the (now collapsed) “ceasefire” of January 2025. (Remembering Dr. Refaat Alareer’s words here: “Ceasefire? What usually happens in occupied Palestine is that Palestinians cease, and Israel fires.”) 

Invasions by settlers into agricultural lands have increased in frequency and expanded: settlers regularly bring their livestock onto cultivated Palestinian lands. This report details several incidents of settler violence against Palestinian residents in Susiya in recent weeks, but is incomplete and also does not cover the incidents of settlers trespassing onto Palestinian lands with their livestock – which they use as a form of intimidation, provocation, threat and an assertion of their domination. Repeated complaints by residents to both police and military authorities – including formal complaints with detailed documentation – have gone unanswered. Even when offenses were extensively documented with identifying details and photos of perpetrators, and with maps that clearly show the demarcations of the military orders showing boundaries where settlers are not allowed, no action is taken. State inaction regarding settler violence emboldens settlers to expand their activities from agricultural lands into the village itself, and to escalate their violence against residents. Since the beginning of this year alone, over 100 incidents involving grazing violations, harassment, and attacks by settlers have been documented, and threats and physical assaults – including shoving, beatings, stone-throwing at people, homes, vehicles, and even arson – have become routine occurrences. 

In the context of the petition regarding the expulsion of residents, the state argued that it was acting to enforce law and public order in the villages, and this argument was accepted by the court. However, the court found it necessary to reiterate and emphasize that military and police authorities are obligated to protect the residents of the area from violence or violations of the law. The court further noted in its ruling on July 29, 2024:

“The picture painted by the petitioners’ claims is troubling, to say the least. In fact, even from the respondents’ claims, it can be understood that the response provided is incomplete, even if they believe they have done their utmost. It is worth reiterating that the petitioners are protected residents entitled to receive an adequate response from the authorities in the area, especially concerning repeated acts of violence against them. Accordingly, it is incumbent upon law enforcement agencies in the area to ensure the safety of the petitioners and maintain public order in the region, even under the complex circumstances of this period and its limitations. We believe that this ruling serves to clarify and emphasize these points.”

Despite this assertion from the Israeli court, police and military authorities not only fail to protect Palestinian residents; not only do they embolden and effectively encourage settler violence; they also actively contribute to it. On March 28th, after a settler militia stormed the village of Jinba, and after the military had already arrested 22 Palestinians who were attacked by settlers, soldiers came back later and, under the pretense of searching for weapons, raided and destroyed the village, finishing the settlers’ job for them. On March 30th, the army arrested several Palestinians at gunpoint in the village of Susiya. 

 On the morning of March 17th in Susiya, Ahmad, a Palestinian farmer, went out with his flock to graze in the pastures behind his home. It was 6.30 a.m. and he was accompanied by two activists with International Solidarity Movement.
  

At 6.45 a.m., Ahmad noticed three masked settlers appear at the top of the hill that is bordering the nearby settlement. At least one of the three was clearly carrying a stick, and two of the three quickly descended on the valley, and began to hurl huge rocks at the families. The two were soon joined by seven more settlers – all of them masked, and slinging enormous rocks across the valley, at the Palestinian farmers who had been out with their sheep, and their families, including young children who were dressed in the school uniforms, and who were now being made late for school. 

These nine settlers continued their attack: running up to the families, throwing rocks, running back and coming back again, each time getting closer and closer to the homes of the Palestinians. They continued to throw enormous rocks at the Palestinians and the handful of international volunteers responding to the scene, many of them narrowly missing heads, necks and legs. In the attack by the settlers, they injured 2 Palestinians – an older woman was hit by a stone in the eye, and left with a bruise, and settlers hit an elderly man in the foot. 

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The Israeli police had been called: upon their arrival, the masked settlers quickly fled back into the valley. In all this time, only notorious settler Shem Tov had remained unmasked.

He immediately rushed over to the police car, and coordinated with them to plan the arrest of Nasser, one of the Palestinians who was being stoned by settlers. This collusion of occupation forces – police and settlers – allowed the masked settlers to run away, back through the valley and up the hill to the illegal settlement. The police kept Nasser detained in the vehicle, while his children stood crying in front of the police van, anxiously asking for their father’s release. Shem Tov sat in the front seat of the vehicle, and when he left, made kissing noises and winked at the young girls in their school uniforms. Shem Tov sexually harassing Palestinians is well-documented.
  

On February 26th, Ahmad was attacked while he was out shepherding on his land. Sometime between 11 am and noon, he was beaten by 5-6 settlers who beat his legs, his back and his face, for which he needed to seek treatment in the hospital.
  

On March 2nd, right in the middle of Iftar – when families gather together to break the day’s fast after sundown – at around 6.15 p.m., settlers tried to break into two homes in the village of Susiya – they broke windows and threw stones, at the families and at 2 responding activists. The settlers left and soon horrible screams were heard from the direction of Ahmad’s house. Masked and armed, the settlers had descended on Ahmad’s family, including his wife and two young girls, and thrown stones at them and their neighbors. When the police eventually arrived, they responded with their typical feigned incompetence – taking evidentiary photos while claiming there was not enough evidence to work with. Neither the physical injuries nor the property damage qualified, and the Palestinians’ complaints were dismissed. With masked settlers and police that are more than willing to allow them to run away, again, the occupation forces were able to work in tandem (settler violence, and police feigned and weaponized incompetence) to threaten the Palestinians with displacement from lands they have stewarded for generations. 

Compounded upon the escalation of attacks by settlers (many of whom are armed and deploy weapons upon the Palestinians they are trying to intimidate and harass), are attacks by “settler soldier” militias, since October 7th and the escalation of Israeli genocide of Palestinians. These reservists, who have been drafted since the beginning of the genocide, Settlers don soldier uniforms and enjoy even more impunity than previously; it has become increasingly more difficult to distinguish between settler and soldier. Both enact the violence of the occupation in their own way, but the merging of the occupation forces since October 7th has brought on another level for these Palestinian families.
  

As I was beginning to write this report on the afternoon March 19th, a group of masked and armed settlers brought their herd of cows to graze on Nasser’s land in Susiya; the irony of abandoning writing this report to stand in solidarity with Susiya residents to confront, for the umpteenth time, yet another instance of harassment and violence by the settler, cannot be lost on anyone. 

Another major attack on Susiya where residents were beaten and 3 Palestinian men were arrested and held overnight in a military base, also made headlines around the world: Hamdan Ballal, co-director of Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land that shows exactly this type of violence in Masafer Yatta, was attacked by violent settlers on the evening of March 25th. Around the time of Iftar, when families were sitting down to break the daylong Ramadan fast, settlers arrived to Palestinian homes in Susiya and were throwing rocks, in the presence of Israeli police and army who looked on, doing nothing to stop them. Shem Tov, accompanied by soldiers, attacked Ballal, kicking him in the head and beating him violently. Shem Tov and 15 other settlers stormed other homes, smashing cars, and assaulting other residents. The accompanying soldiers arrested Hamdan and 2 other Palestinians, despite their urgent need for medical attention, and kept them in a military base overnight. Their whereabouts were unknown for several hours and they were not permitted to talk to their lawyer or seek legal counsel until the next morning. Eventually they were released and the charges against them were dropped for lack of any evidence against them. And meanwhile, Shem Tov and the other settlers who engaged in these brutal assaults, walk away with no repercussions or accountability.
 
 Despite mountains of detailed documentation against the violent act of these settlers, despite police and military presence during attacks, despite courts’ rulings about the rightful ownership of these lands by the Palestinians, despite military orders banning settlers from these areas, despite international media attention in the case of a Hollywood-recognized Palestinian man who was attacked, despite widespread condemnation against the illegal settlements and the violence in the occupation’s concerted efforts aimed at their expansion: despite it all, the violence of the Zionist occupation continues, and escalates, aiming to displace and destroy Palestinian life. And Palestinians remain steadfast, staying on these lands they have stewarded for generations, continuing to tend to the groves of olive, pomegranate and almond trees, to their flocks of sheep and goats and their young, the bushes of za’atar growing across the hills, their caves and cisterns large and small: all these are subject to the genocidal violence and destruction by the occupation, and are, therefore, bound to Palestinian resistance against the occupation through stewardship of these lands and ecologies.

We thank the activists in Masafer Yatta for putting together some of the background included in this piece.